Scorpius
by Ozbridge
Summary: A period of time before Scorpius was born.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: Everything belongs to JKR.

Anon: Thank you for notifying me.

* * *

That was indeed a terrible morning for Asteria.

At home she couldn't have any breakfast. And at work she could hardly do anything. The headache, dizziness and nausea continuously came, not to mention the boy kicking her all the time. The pile of papers Uncle Pallas gave her early in the morning hadn't been done a bit. And right at the moment, she was in the bathroom, vomiting all of her lunch.

Never in her life could Asteria possibly image that being pregnant was that miserable.

After throwing up all of the food in her stomach, Asteria returned to her office. Just after she went in the room, she immediately opened a bottle of butter beer, intending to drink a little to gain some energy. But at the moment she poured the beer out, Irene, who was her assistant, held the glass back

"Please don't drink this. Mr. Malfoy says you must not have any alcoholic drinks."

Asteria threw Irene's hand aside, giving her a warning look, "If you don't say a word he won't know."

Irene said hesitately, "Then just drink a little, and be quick. He may be coming."

"Ignore me. Focus on your work," replied Asteria, raising the glass and taking a deep drought. She drank half of a bottle, then putting it back in the desk drawer. Right at that moment, Draco stepped in.

The sound of the door made Asteria startled. She said annoyedly, "You gave me a heart attack! Can't you possibly knock?"

"Since when have I had to knock before entering your room?" Draco said coldly. "You have something hidden from me?"

"Where do you get that thinking?" she tried to sound casual, taking a glance at the drawer to make sure that it had been closed properly.

"Have you taken all the medicines?" asked he, looking at the papers on her desk.

"I have, but I can't eat anything."

Draco came near her, "Then don't try too hard to do it. Take a rest. What is important is you two are healthy." As he said this, his face was nearer to hers. Asteria could feel his very deep breathes on her face.

Then he suddenly asked, "You drank beer?"

Asteria's heart jumped, "Not at all…"

The moment she opened her mouth, she could feel the tip of his nose touch her face. Then he straightened his back, saying curtly, "Don't lie to me."

Draco took a look around the room, his eyes stopped at the drawer of the cupboard. He came to it opening one by one. Then he put the bottle of beer on her desk.

"You said you don't have anything to hide from me?"

Asteria stubbornly avoided his look, saying nothing.

"Next time don't poison my son," she stressed every word.

"But I only have a few gulps," she said loudly, "you call that "poison"?"

"I forbid you to drink a drop." Seeing that she was about to quarrel, Draco immediately said. "Do as I say. I don't want to argue over this with you."

He looked at Asteria, who was turning her back to him, swearing at that draconian rule under her breath. Casting a glance the pile of papers on her desk, he changed the subject, "Uncle Pallas gave you these in the morning?"

"Yeah, but I haven't touched it. I was too tired all the morning," said she unwillingly, still not satisfied with him.

He quietly took her seat, the starting sorting out the papers.

"When will you have to finish these?"

"Three o' clock."

Asteria saw Draco take the quill and begin doing her work. Occasionally he stopped and asked her some questions.

"Do you need the witness's profile for the attacking case?"

"Yes, Irene, get it for him. You only need to note down his latest testimony, Draco."

Another time he asked her.

"This person has six previous convictions. Do I have to include those?"

"No Cerberus will do it."

*

* *

At three o' clock, Asteria woke up. She couldn't remember when she had fallen asleep, but she felt relieved to see all the files have been done.

"What time did Draco complete this?" she asked Irene.

"About two o' clock. Then he said he had to return to his office."

Asteria didn't say anything at these words. She used her wand to change what he had written into her handwriting, then bringing the papers to her uncle with the hope of getting rid of them.

When her uncle had a brief look at the files, he asked, "Did Draco do these for you?"

"How do you know? "Asteria raised her eyebrows.

"They don't look very professional," he simply said.

She signed, "Sorry, I was sick all the morning."

"That's fine. Draco's work is not bad," pausing for a long moment, he continued, "have you heard about the International Magical Law Committee?"

"No. What's happened?" she curiously asked. Asteria had been assigned to attend it in August, but because of her pregnancy, someone else would come.

"They have confirmed that Hermione Weasley will come instead of you."

That name, or the baby, or both, made Asteria suddenly nauseated. Trying not to sound too shocked, she asked, "How long have you known it?"

"Just a few hours ago. They said she was the second best suitable person, after you."

Asteria signed again, "If I didn't have this child...," she thought.

Seeing that she said nothing, her uncle worriedly asked, "Aster, are you all right?"

She was brought back to reality, "Yes. I am fine," curving her lips, she continued, "No matter what happens, I am still better than her."

"It is good that you think so. There is no need to get bitter about this, she can only gain what you have left."

Asteria gave a faint smile, "But I have been looking for this."

"Next time I am sure you will be the one who attend it," he consoled her. "Well, just throw it out of your mind. What you should do now is taking rest. Do you know that lately you have been quite-?"

"Fickle? Draco harped on about it all the time."

"Yeah, kind of," he said. "I just meet you from time to time and I have already fed up, while he has to stay with you the whole evening. I think Draco endures you a lot."

"That's because of the baby, not my fault," mumbled she stubbornly.

He ignored it, "Don't waste time provoking him. If there are too many things to do, leave it to him or Cerberus. You'd better not work too much."

Asteria nodded slightly, though she still hadn't felt easy, "Thank you. And don't worry about me. I can take care of myself."

"Your mother told me to keep an eye on you. She seems worry about you very much."

"She is like that all the time," said Asteria quietly.

"Well, you should go home now. Just leave the papers here. I will tell other people to have a check, so don't bother with them."

"All right. Thank you," she stood up. "I am leaving now. Goodbye."

"Take care."

_To be continued_

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	2. Chapter 2

Asteria threw herself to the bed. Being home didn't help her to feel better at all. Her head still throbbed painfully, and there was a terrible sick feeling in her stomach. She closed her eyes, trying to get some sleep. But to her surprise, she couldn't fall into sleep despite the extreme tiredness.

After a few minutes, with all of her effort, Asteria sat up, resting her back to the headboard. She reached out her hand to get the wand, then pointing it to the desk and murmuring, "Accio March's files!"

An enormous pile of papers flew to her, and she set them out on the bed, then starting to read. But that couldn't be said to be an effective work, though. Asteria spent most of the time angrily tossing her head or grumbling about the dull pain in her stomach. After more than two hours, everything she had cast a glance at was the first five pages.

At around seven o' clock, Draco arrived home. He went into his bedroom, seeing Asteria sit on the bed and look indifferently at the papers in front of her.

"It's you?" said she half-heartedly.

Draco came near her and took the papers. He then cast a brief look at them, asking, "Why do you read these? They are from last month."

"I know", replied she in a weary tone of voice. "But I want to read them again. My mind has been blunted lately. Besides, there's nothing else to do."

Draco stood for a moment or two, then taking all the papers from her, "Don't bother your mind with these. Just take a rest."

"But I can't sit around like this all the time," said Asteria annoyedly. "Give them back to me!"

"You aren't carrying not only my son, but also yours," he turned back after putting all the papers into the drawer. "Have some mercy on him."

"Then who has mercy on me?" said she hotly. "With him I can't read or write anything. I vomit everything I eat. I feel sick to death all the time. I-"

"Aster, listen to me-"

"I don't want this child," said she loudly, drowning out his voice.

The room suddenly became quiet than ever. Draco was speechless for a few seconds, then speaking in a dead voice, "Are you done yet?"

Asteria turned her face away from him, saying nothing.

Slowly, he came near and sat beside her, "Never say that again. You won't like me when I hear it for the second time."

"I have never liked you," said she indifferently. "You know that."

"Yeah. I know," Draco gave a humourless laugh. "But you really shouldn't say that you don't want your son. Maybe one day you will regret it."

Breathed in deeply, he said in a low voice.

"When I was small, I wanted to have a younger brother, so I could fly around with him or teach him to play Quidditch, things that Father rarely did to me. But as you see, I am the only child, so it was a bit lonely at that time."

Though Asteria still turned away from him, Draco looked straight into her face and continued.

"I really look forward to the birth of our son. I think that I can treat him different from the way Father treated me. Sorry if carrying him causes inconvenience for you, but he means a lot to me."

Draco kept looking at her for a few seconds. As Asteria still refused to turn her face, he stood up.

"I am going to dine with Father and Mother today. Do you want to come with me?"

"No, you go," said she curtly after staying silent for several minutes.

"All right, so I'll tell Glinter to bring dinner to you. Remember to stop eating in case you feel sick," said Draco. Then without waiting for her reply, he got out of the room.

*

* *

The clock struck two o' clock in the morning and Asteria awoke from the deep sleep. She turned her head and saw Draco lie beside her. Suddenly Asteria wondered what time he had arrived home, because she remembered going to bed alone.

She turned over, slightly shaking his arm.

"Hey!"

After a few seconds, he replied in a sleepy voice, "Yes?"

"Can you talk with me for a bit?"

"Yeah", he let out a yawn. "What do you want to talk about?"

"Well," she breathed in deeply, "Have you thought of any name for him?"

This time his voice sounded much more awake, "Why do you suddenly ask me that?"

She said hesitantly, "We will have to name right? It is already April now. There are only seven months to go."

"All right," said he. "I have thought of a name. What about Hyperion?"

"What?"

"Hyperion. Is that your grandfather's name?"

"Yeah. But why do you want to name him that?"

"You once told me that your grandfather was the person who had greatest impact on you. I just think that you may like it if we name our son after him."

"That'd be fine," said she, "and I have thought of a name for him, too. Scorpius."

"But what is he is not a Scorpio?"

"No, it has no connection with the zodiac. I just think that it can keep your family's tradition. The constellation and everything."

"All right, if you want we can name him Scorpius."

"We don't have to do that," said she quickly. "If you like the name Hyperion, Scorpius can be the middle name."

"No, now I prefer Scorpius. Can we name him Scorpius and keep Hyperion as the middle name?"

"OK," said she, "so let's name him Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy."

She could fell his lips press to her hair. Absent-mindedly, she said, "Sorry."

Before she could realize what she had just said, Draco replied, "Don't worry, I have been used to your fickleness."

Asteria laid her cheek against the pillow. She wanted to say, "I didn't intend to apologise to you," but very quickly, she fell into sleep without the throbbing head.

**_Sound like everything ends here, right? But I'm thinking of writing a bonus. Please read and review!_**


	3. Chapter 3

Though the summer heat had started to make her feel a bit uncomfortable, it was still a wonderful day for Asteria. July had already come, and Scorpius would be born in only four months. Asteria was going through her last day at work before staying home for half a year to take care of her son.

In the next two quarters, her cousin Cerberus would take her work, so Asteria had spent several days finishing her papers carefully. Before lunch time, she felt so relieved to completing all of her files.

But what made Asteria really happy for the rest of the day was the news from Uncle Pallas. When she and Draco had lunch with him, he told them a piece of information about the International Magical Law Commitee.

"We had a meeting this morning," said Pallas, "and they have decided to have a little change."

"A change of what?" asked Asteria. Whatever happened she would not be able to go, but she still kept an interest in it.

"Well, there will be only five people attending the Commitee. Hermione Weasley is not one of them."

"Why? She gets dragon pox or something?" asked Asteria, raising her eyebrows.

"No, she is pregnant," replied her uncle, "I heard that it was already two months. Of course she can't go."

"Well, in that case, I don't feel sorry for her."

"We know that you don't," said Draco. "Are you aware that you have been smirking for fifteen seconds?"

* * *

It was only eleven o'clock in the evening but the Malfoys had already gone to bed. Lying beside her husband, Asteria asked him, "Which House do you think Scorpius will be in?"

"Slytherin. You think he will be in other House?"

"No. I just ask you to be sure," said she. "You know what? Since this afternoon I have been thinking; it is obvious that Scorpius will be in the same year with the Weasley kid."

"Yeah. So?"

"How can you be so indifferent?" said Asteria annoyedly. "Do you want our son to mix with Hermione Granger's kid?"

"Ron Weasley's kid," he corrected her. "Of course I don't want Scorpius to stay near such a blood traitor. But don't worry, they will be in different Houses."

"I think so too," said Asteria. "Definitely the Weasley boy will be in Gryffindor."

"Yeah. But how do you know that it is a boy?"

"What?"

"How do you know that the Weasley kid is a boy? Did anyone tell you?"

"No. Of course I don't know. But it should be a boy. If it is a girl, I can't stand a miniature of Hermione Granger."

"Yeah. Maybe that girl will wear the know-it-all face all the time."

"That's right. So stop it, can you? Or I will have nightmares tonight."

"Ok, I will stop," replied Draco. "I am exhausted now. Good night."

**THE END**

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